Sharaku

I think this is a movie where it helps to know at least a little Japanese. There is some fun wordplay in it. I haven't seen it with subtitles yet, so I'm sure I've missed a lot, since I am not in any way native-speaker proficient in Japanese. I think the parts that may seem slow-moving go a little faster if you know Japanese.

All the performances are excellent. There is a wonderful physicality to the acting, not just the dance, acrobatics and fight scenes. As in kabuki, every movement tells a story with great precision and power.

The score combines elements of traditional shamisen, flute. vocals and percussion with Jazz-age orchestral passages. It works to show the parallels between Late-Edo era Japan and the 1920's in the U.S., both times of semi-controlled, hypocritical lawlessness. The title character, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, could have stepped out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Major props to Frankie Sakai, a jazz drummer turned movie producer and actor, for a fine performance as the publisher Tsutaya, and for being the force behind the tone of the film.